Saturday Morning Hot Links

*The Astros made sure that their 2nd game in the series against the White Sox was far less drama-filled, and I think we can all respect a drama-free Friday night. Houston is 59-31. The Astros have played 65.5 55.6% of the regular season.

*Lance McCullers enjoyed a career night: 7IP, 3H/1ER, 12K:0BB, and had a no-hitter in the 6th.

The strikeouts are a career-high. It's his 3rd 10+ K game of the season, and 11th of his career. It's the 2nd start this season in which McCullers did not walk a single batter. It's his 3rd career start with double-digit strikeouts and no walks (April 9, 2017 / June 3, 2015).

Hinch, on McCullers:
I was just so happy with his progress. He's got so many options now against any hitter....I love the growth that's happening for him as a Major League starting pitcher. He knows what he's going through and how he's taking steps forward. It was cool to have a moment with him.

*The Astros have 18 starts of double-digit strikeouts this season, tying the 1986 team. They're two 10+ K starts away from 1987's total, and six away from the franchise record 1969 team.

*Evan Gattis was 3x4 with a double, home run, and 4RBI. On May 6 Gattis was "hitting" .186/.263/.279. Since then he's hitting .286/.333/.629 with 17HR, 53 RBI.

*Jose Altuve went 3x4 with a walk, getting on base four times for the 7th time in 2018. He has 119 hits on the season. Just for reference, Jake Marisnick and Tony Kemp have combined for 60 hits.

MLB.com's Mark Simon writes about Altuve's quest for five straight 200+ hit seasons.

*The Astros dedicated the win to 10-year old Cameron Gooch. Hinch:
We don't often get to dedicate wins, but to have Gatty and I carry him out to throw the first pitch, we would like to dedicate this win to him. Gatty hit a home run for him, and Gatty and I both wore this wristband that he gave to us. That means a lot to us. 

HEY. KYLE TUCKER IS COMING UP AND JAKE MARISNICK HAS BEEN SENT DOWN.

Sources: The Astros have called up touted outfield prospect Kyle Tucker from Triple-A Fresno.

— Jake Kaplan (@jakemkaplan) July 7, 2018

JAKE MARISNICK will unfortunately be unable to appear at the show today due to circumstances beyond our control.

Marisnick ticket purchases via credit card will be refunded back to credit cards. Cash: please come to Autograph Tickets.

We apologize for any inconvenience.

— TRISTAR Productions (@TRISTAR1) July 7, 2018

*Our Boy Tyler Stafford wrote about the improbability of Collin McHugh's 2018 season.

*Here's an update from Christian Boutwell on Whitley's oblique strain and McCann's knee surgery.

*Mark Berman reports that the Astros want to extend their lease at Minute Maid Park, valid through 2030, through 2050. I'll be 70 years old. /makes drink

*"Big news" I guess of yesterday is that James Hoyt has been traded to Cleveland. Hoyt had a career 4.40 ERA/3.84 FIP in 71.2IP for Houston. He got his most extended look in 2017, when he threw 49.1IP, allowing 51H/24ER, 66K:14BB - a 4.38 ERA / 1.32 WHIP. Hoyt had a stretch in August-September when he allowed 9H/1ER, 9K:5BB in 12IP. Ultimately, there was no place for him in Houston. I don't want anyone to get sent down or traded in the bullpen as it is. Trading Hoyt puts the Astros' 40-Man Roster at 38 Men.

The player coming back from Cleveland is RHP reliever Tommy DeJuneas, which is French for "Of the Juneas." DeJuneas was drafted in the 26th Round of the 2017 draft out of NC State. In the Midwest League for Lake County, DeJuneas has thrown 29.1IP, 27H/11ER, with 39K:8BB in 2018. He'll report to Buies Creek.

*The Astros also traded 27-year old outfielder Jon Kemmer to the Twins for cash considerations. Kemmer, drafted in the 21st Round of the 2013 draft, is a career .281/.360/.497 hitter in the Astros' organization.

*Forrest Whitley and Yordan Alvarez were selected to play in the Futures Game. Kyle Tucker was not. Nothing against Whitley and Alvarez (I love them like they're my Very Good Baseball Sons) but this is...weird. Or not! Fresno Communications Guy Paul Braverman notes that Tucker played in the Futures Game in 2017.

Speaking of Yordan Alvarez, Yordan Alvarez has been promoted to Fresno, and went 0x4 with 2K in his Triple-A debut, a Fresno win in which Derek Fisher went 2x4 with 4RBI and Rogelio Armenteros went 6IP, 3H/1ER, 7K:1BB.

Never forget that the Astros traded Josh Fields - the legend who gave up two home runs in the 10th inning of World Series Game 2 - to Los Angeles for Yordan Alvarez.

*Jim Callis writes that, if Kyle Tucker was promoted to Houston at the Break, he could hit .275 with double-digit home runs and steals.

*The Athletic's Jake Kaplan: With Kyle Tucker, Derek Fisher, Myles Straw, and now Yordan Alvarez in the outfield, the outside-the-box idea Fresno is using to alleviate their outfielder glut. Luhnow:
These days positions are a little different, too. The shortstop isn't always standing where he used to stand. He's standing in the outfield a lot, and he's making different throws. A versatile athlete in today's baseball world should be able to play almost every position out there...

*Whitley, who left Thursday night's start after 17 pitches, has a strained left oblique and will see team doctors in Houston.

*A.J. Reed has been selected to participate in the Triple-A Home Run Derby on Monday.

*Abraham Toro has been promoted from Buies Creek to Corpus. Toro was hitting .257/.361/.473 for Buies Creek, with 20 doubles and 14 home runs, 62K:45BB in 349 PAs.

*Corpus got an 8-run 5th inning to beat Arkansas. Toro went 1x5 with a 3-run home run.

*Danny Knobler: AL superpowers are leaving the rest of MLB in the dust.

*In his last 365 days, Sonny Gray has thrown 168.1IP, 164H/84ER, 156K:70BB - a 4.49 ERA / 1.39 WHIP.

*Seattle signed GM Jerry Dipoto to a "multi-year extension." In the time it took to type this out, Dipoto traded his Arizona League team to the Lakers for a Lebron jersey.

*SI's Emma Baccillieri: Why do the Nationals suck so hard?

*The Braves failed to sign their #8 overall pick from the 2018 draft, noting "medical concerns." They offered him just enough of the slot value to receive an additional Top-10 pick in the 2019 draft. Oh, both Arizona and the 2017 World Series Silver Medalists failed to sign their 1st Round picks, as well. I'm sure there will be a literal Cram of articles (a grouping of articles is hereby known as a "Cram") on how the Braves, Diamondbacks, and Dodgers are hurting the fabric of the game.

*Good job good effort, Baylor.

Wednesday Morning Hot Links

Jake Odorizzi shut the Astros down while Keuchel scuffled early and the Astros lost 4-1. They're 9-3.

*Keuchel: 4IP, 6H/3ER, 6K:4BB, 60 of his 101 pitches went for strikes. He threw a first-pitch strike to 15 of the 22 batters he faced.

*Dallas Keuchel is one out away from throwing his 1000th career IP.

*Collin McHugh struck out five in 2IP.

*For the third time in five games the Astros were held without an extra-base hit and went 1x6 w/RISP. Carlos Correa was 0x4 with 2 GIDPs.

*Altuve was 2x4, J.D. Davis was 2x3 with a walk, Reddick was 0x1 with 2BB. Springer and Bregman were 1x3 with a walk each.

*Minnesota's 1-2 hitters Dozier and Mauer were a combined 3x4 with 1K:6BB. Hinch:
They did more with their walks than we did. Both pitchers had a hard time staying in the zone. They drew a lot of walks, we drew a lot of walks, they got a couple hits here and there. I think three of their walks scored, and they scored four runs. Tough night all the way around to lose the way we did.

Keuchel:
I was feeling good and attacking and went on the defensive a little bit and didn't make competitive pitches as much as I would like to early and gave up three runs. It's there. It's just a matter of making more competitive and quality pitches early.

Altuve:
We did the same thing last year. We didn't start really good. We were battling to score runs until we woke up and won the World Series. We have a lot of talent here. We have guys playing hard. 

*Just before last night's game started - so that the stats wouldn't be valid for as long - I wrote about how I'm not really worried about the strikeouts. To that point:

Hinch said Bregman is "hitting the ball in the air to an extreme." He said the team is striking out a lot because they're not staying inside the strike zone. "We will be better. It's a 10-game look not a defining characteristic."

— Brian McTaggart (@brianmctaggart) April 10, 2018

*Chandler Rome went inside the Astros' recent offensive woes. In the last six games, Springer-Bregman-Correa are a combined 8x45.

*Tony Sipp was placed on the 10-Day DL yesterday afternoon with oblique soreness. James Hoyt, who went on the DL with oblique soreness in March and opened the door for Tony Sipp to make the Opening Day roster, has been recalled from Fresno. Hinch:
We just decided that, given the way pitching can go, we can't afford to sit on someone for five or six days. We didn't think he was going to be available this series and by the time he throws a bullpen and gets into a game at the tail end of the next series, that's too long.

*Travis Sawchik writes that Gerrit Cole might just be another Ace. There's lots of pretty Charts N Graffs in this so be sure to click this link.

*Sunday Night Baseball: Bartolo vs. Verlander. Meanwhile, Rougned Odor and Doug Fister have both been placed on the 10-Day DL.

*Ahem: Rougned Jake Anthony Odorizzio.

*J.B. Bukauskas made his 2018 debut last night for Quad Cities: 3.2IP, 3H/2ER, 6K:4BB

*Ken Rosenthal (In The $Athletic) writes a sad story about Colorado's Pat Valaika and his family.

*10/10 would buy a BVI Marlins shirt. (Ed. Note: Move this criminal organization to Montreal and let someone run it the right way.)

*Alex Cora took the Astros' scouting report on Mookie Betts and spent the winter combating it with him.

*James Beard Award-winning chef Justin Yu talked to Texas Monthly about his favorite places to eat in Houston. There's a slideshow, but it's worth clicking through.

Sunday Morning Hot Links

*Last night was weird. 10th inning, at home, Derek Fisher on 2nd, Alex Bregman at the plate...and that's pretty much where the similarities end. Bregman hit a ball at a 78% launch angle and $144m offseason acquisition Eric Hosmer overran it. Hosmer:
Just overran it. I put my head down trying to make up some ground. By the time I looked up, it was past me. It's on me.

pic.twitter.com/yOuH3wK5au

— All we are is Dustin Nguyen (@itsdtrain) April 8, 2018

Alex Bregman's walk off hit... 83 MPH at a 78 degree launch angle. 0% hit probability.

— Daren Willman (@darenw) April 8, 2018

Catcher A.J. Ellis:
It was in that no-man's land. In hindsight, I should have more aggressively went for it and gave us another option out there. I put Hos in a bad position having to run full speed. Definitely something I should have went for, been out there in the mix. No excuse.

Bregman:
That's one of the good things about this team - we don't take anything for granted. (Fisher) was busting his butt from second base. He could have easily jogged and said whatever, but that's not how we play here.

The last 1-0 win was September 12, 2017 at Anaheim. The last extra-innings shutout was May 30, 2010, a 2-0 win at Cincinnati.

*Gerrit Cole: 7IP, 5H/0ER, 11K:0BB. Cole:
It feels good. It feels good to be able to contribute, eat innings, provide some rest for the bullpen.

Hinch:
I love the way that he thinks through the game and also executes the game plan. If he doesn't like a pitch, he stepped off a couple of times. He's just a very, very impressive, high-end starting pitcher. That makes us feel good when he gets the ball. We feel completely in control of the game.

Gerrit Cole's 78 Game Score is the highest for an Astros pitcher since Gerrit Cole recorded a 77 in his first start. The Astros have three starts this season with a Game Score of 70+. The 2017 Astros recorded 19 starts with a Game Score of 70+. Cole's 22 strikeouts in his first two starts sets a franchise record for strikeouts in two debut starts.

Cole's 10+ K starts with Pittsburgh: 6 in 127 starts.
Cole's 10+ K starts with Houston: 2 in 2 starts.

*Astros pitchers have thrown 19IP, 19H/1ER, 25K:4BB against the Padres.

*After going six straight games without a GIDP as a team, Carlos Correa went 0x4 with 2 GIDPs.

*Once again the Astros were held without an extra-base hit. As I noted yesterday, the Astros had two games all last season without an extra-base hit. This is the first time they've gone back-to-back without one since May 7-8, 2015. They had 27 extra-base hits in their first six games, and one in their last three. They're 2-1 in those games.

*Fun times: My daughter and I will be on stage at our church this morning as part of the sermon in which I am to bring a bag full of Astros gear, our preacher is bringing a bag full of Ramgers gear, and my daughter has to pick which is the Good Team and which is the Bad Team. She has been subconsciously training for this all her life.

*The Astros are in no rush to put Evan Gattis behind the plate. Hinch:
We still don't want him to be just a DH. It's just the way the games have played out. I think a lot of it has to do with Max Stassi, just his early-season performance and contributions. It's created a little less innings behind the plate.

*James Hoyt (oblique) was activated from the Disabled List and optioned to Fresno.

*FanGraphs' Rian Watt looked into eBIS and how baseball transactions actually get done.

*The Hardball Times: The physics of the home run boom.

Pre-Stros Report for games of April 7:

Fresno 15
Reno 8

Fresno (1-2) picked up their first win of the season with an offensive explosion led by Jack Mayfield's grand slam. Every Fresno player had a hit. Mayfield (2B, HR, 5RBI), Tyler White (2RBI) and Alejandro Garcia (RBI) had three hits each. A.J. Reed (2B, BB, 2RBI), Garrett Stubbs, and Jon Kemmer (HR, 2RBI) had two hits each. Tony Kemp was 1x3 with 3BB. Former Rangers reliever Neftali Feliz got lit up for 7H/6ER, in 2IP.

Frankie Tuesday made his 2018 debut and was...inefficient: 3.2IP, 6H/3ER, 6K:5BB, 51 of 87 pitches for strikes. Cy Sneed allowed 6H/4ER, 2K:2BB in 2.2IP. Brendan McCurry got the four-out save.

Corpus 8
NW Arkansas 2

Corpus (2-1) got down 1-0 and then rattled off seven unanswered runs. Top four in the lineup (Straw, Benedetti, Alvarez, Jones) went 8x17 with 4K:4BB, 5RBI. Stephen Wrenn was 3x5 with an RBI and a stolen base. Myles Straw was 2x4 with 2BB and 2SB. In this series Straw was 5x10 with 2K:6BB and five stolen bases. Carmen Benedetti was 2x4 with a walk and 3RBI; Yordan Alvarez was 2x5 with 2RBI.

Yoanys Quiala threw 5IP, 3H/1ER, 5K:3BB.

Buies Creek vs Salem postponed due to rain

Quad Cities 3
Cedar Rapids 4

Quad Cities (0-2) tied up the game in the top of the 9th but allowed the Cedar Rapids Kernels to win it on a walk-off. Jonathan Arauz and Jake Adams had two hits each. Gabriel Bracamonte was 0x1 with 3BB. The River Bandits pitching staff only allowed one earned run. Tyler Ivey threw 4.2IP, 3H/2R (1ER), 9K:2BB; Peter Solomon allowed 3H/2R (0ER), 5K:1BB in 4.1IP.

Tuesday Morning Hot Links

*The Astros unveiled the AL Pennant and World Series Champion banners last night and it was all emotional. Then they found a way to Astros it up right nice:

No one said unveiling a banner was easy, just ask the Houston Astros pic.twitter.com/ZUgKAFfto1

— Chris Grenham (@chrisgrenham) April 2, 2018

Minutes later Carlos Correa left the game with discomfort in his big toe (he fouled a ball off his foot yesterday). I swear, if this thing is like the 2016 Opening Day Erik Kratz Curse I'll burn everything down. Correa::
The nail was black, and today I tried to play through the pain, and the ground ball that got hit to short I had to react quickly and it hurt it even more. I had to come out of the game. I went out there and could barely move. I was not feeling great.

*But the Astros sent everyone home happy (except for the Orioles) with a 6-1 win. Houston is 4-1.

Charlie Morton threw 6IP, 3H/0ER, 6K:2BB with nine groundouts and two flyouts. 56 of his 91 pitches were thrown for strikes. Morton:
There were a lot of people here that were hoping for a win. It's a big moment for the city. So I'm glad that I did all right.

Brian McCann was 2x2 with a walk; Derek Fisher was 2x3 with a triple and 2RBI; George Springer was 2x5. The Astros are 4-1 despite Bregman starting out the season hitting .158, Reddick (1x2, 2BB) hitting .111, and Marwin (who homered) hitting .176. J.D. Davis is hitting .091. So the first time through the rotation:

Verlander: 6IP, 4H/0ER, 5K:2BB
Keuchel: 6IP, 7H/3ER, 4K:1BB
McCullers: 5.1IP, 4H/2ER, 10K:1BB
Cole: 7IP, 2H/1ER, 11K:3BB
Morton: 6IP, 3H/0ER, 6K:2BB

Rotation: 30.1IP, 20H/6ER, 36K:9BB - 1.78 ERA / 0.96 WHIP

Jake Kaplan writes in The Athletic about how this first turn highlights the Astros' immense potential.

“People want the conclusion to the season. We’ve got to play the games. Do we have a good team? Yes. Are we proud of our team? Yes. Is our rotation elite? Yes. Do we have superstars throughout the team? Yes. What’s that going to add up to? Check back in October.”—AJ Hinch pic.twitter.com/xtjPmrGkHX

— Richard Justice (@richardjustice) April 2, 2018

*Justin Verlander goes tonight on Ring Night against Baltimore's Mike Wright, who hasn't started since 2016.

*Rich Dauer returned to MMP to throw out the first pitch and it was very sweet.

*Brian T. Smith says it's time to appreciate Jeff Luhnow.

*The Astros reminisced to Jerry Crasnick about their favorite 2017 Postseason moments.

*One thing that struck me as MLBTV struggled to give me a clean connection: I was in Arlington for the Friday game (Astros record when I'm in attendance: 0-1; Astros record when I'm not: 4-0) and noticed how prominently all those Rangers' AL West Division Champs years were splashed all over the ballpark - every screen in the stadium trumpeted it to the world. Then I noticed that the Astros took down all the NL Central Division Champs banners in the outfield. Only the 2005 NL Champs and the 2017 World Series Champs banners are displayed. Crane:
We took down all of those banners that weren't World Series banners. We're going to try to get some more of those, and just reposition the other ones. 

*Gurriel is headed to the DL, after all. Hinch:
We just decided o err on the side of caution. There's been no setback, there's not really any issue other than we wanted to give him a couple more days and our only option is to put him on the DL.

Gurriel is eligible to return on April 13 against the Rangers.

*Ken Rosenthal writes in The Athletic that Carlos Correa and Jose Altuve are not getting complacent.  And bench coach Joe Espada is helping them get better at turning double plays.

*Marwin said he was ejected from Sunday's game because he kicked a ball out of frustration.

*Jim Crane said he'd like to extend the Astros' lease at Minute Maid Park. If I'm reading this right, the lease doesn't expire until 2030.

*KPRC says the Astros' 2017 postseason run brought $95m to Houston.

*Richard Justice has 30 first impressions from Opening weekend.

*James Hoyt (oblique) could see a minor-league rehab stint this week.

*The Astros and Les Alexander could owe Comcast over $54m.

*Mike Hauschild will get the Opening Day start for Fresno.

*Freudis Nova - the Astros' #5 prospect on MLB.com who has drawn comparisons to Hanley Ramirez and Edgar Renteria - is MLB.com's Astros Breakout Prospect. Farm Director Pete Putila:
He's so explosive. He's a legitimate shortstop with power and contact and speed. He drew walks in the DSL and when he chases, he still barrels the ball. He has a good mindset. He's not distracted, he keeps working.

*SI Guy says there are four teams more watchable than the Astros.

*Old buddy Colin Moran hit a grand slam in his first AB at PNC Park yesterday. But there's weirdness out of Pittsburgh. About an hour after Joe Musgrove told MLB.com that he felt good, the Pirates placed him on the 10-Day DL with a strained muscle in his shoulder.

*From the Smithsonian: When Robert Kennedy broke the news of the assassination of Martin Luther King.

As promised, the new Texas plate! @TxDMV @AudiCentral @astros pic.twitter.com/hEfWoH3H5n

— Jeff Luhnow (@jluhnow) April 2, 2018

Thursday Morning Hot Links

One week from tonight we will watch the Defending Champion Houston Astros play a game that counts.

*Collin McHugh is getting used to the idea of being EveryPitcher:
I think for A.J., it will be kind of his new responsibility to figure out the best way to use me, the most effective and best way to keep me sharp, but also fit me into an already talented bullpen and rotation.

*James Hoyt is dealing with a strained oblique and, while he's "not completely shutdown," not pitching in the final week of Spring Training could be the opening the immortal (and not necessarily in a good way) Tony Sipp needs to make the Opening Day roster.

*Chandler Rome writes that the Astros have a tough choice between J.D. Davis and Tyler White. Hinch:
It's 1A and 1B, it's not like one is separating themselves from the other. Eventually, we'll have to make a decision.

Won't we all, A.J., won't we all...

*Yuli Gurriel may not open the season on the Disabled List.

*Carlos Correa is FanGraphs' top shortstop. FanGraphs:
This is a special, special player, and on a Houston squad already at the top of its game and with no immediately discernible weaknesses, he continues to stand out as one of the league's brightest stars.

*Ben Lindbergh writes in The Ringer that tanking hasn't killed baseball's hope and faith:
When baseball has a period of atypical parity, some commentators complain that there are no great teams. When the great teams return, other pundits worry that there are too many terrible ones. The purported crisis varies, but baseball abides.

*SI: How Charley Pride went from Negro League player to the Country Music Hall of Fame.

Wednesday Morning Hot Links

*The GoFundMe for Our Boy PatDStat is up over $11,000. Great job. Keep it going.

*In one side of the split-squad game, the Astros beat the Nationals 10-5.

Charlie Morton was throwing easy gas and threw 3IP, 3H/0ER, 6K:0BB.
Ken Giles threw 1IP, 0H/0ER, 2K:1BB.
James Hoyt allowed another couple of runs on 2H in 0.2IP.

So far this Spring, Hoyt: 4.1IP, 7H/6ER, 1K:2BB.

-Josh Reddick was 1x3 with 2RBI
-Marwin was 2x3 with an RBI
-Jon Kemmer was 3x3 with a solo home run and a walk.
-A.J. Reed was 2x4 with a 2-run home run and a walk.

*On the other side, the Mets beat the Astros on a walk-off grand slam, 9-5.

Collin McHugh threw 3IP, 3H/3R (2ER), 2K:1BB
Rogelio Armenteros allowed the last five runs of the game, throwing 1.1IP, 5H/5ER, 1K:2BB.

-J.D. Davis was 3x4.
-Kyle Tucker hit his 4th home run of the Spring, and was 2x4 with 2RBI.

Teddy Too Strong has been putting on an absolute clinic at #AstrosST. pic.twitter.com/GB9QuRa4Qh

— Houston Astros (@astros) March 6, 2018

McHugh was working on some pitches. McHugh:
At this point in the spring, you have to kind of be an honest evaluator and say, 'Where am I? What are the things I need to work on? What are the things I need to get better at?' At the same time, you're getting closer to the actual games, so you want to make sure you're sharpening the things you already do well.

*Yuli Gurriel talked about how he knew he hurt his hand.

*Brian McTaggart details the bond between Phil Garner and A.J. Hinch.

*The Astros open USA Today's Power Rankings (which is as good as a ring, tbh) in the #1 spot.

*Fresno pitching coach Dyar Miller got to see his 48-year old contract.

*Jon Bernhardt wonders if a 6-Man rotation would actually work?

*#Blessed

Yu Darvish says he’s not sure if he was tipping his pitches or not in the World Series, instead crediting the #Astros powerful lineup

— Bob Nightengale (@BNightengale) March 6, 2018

*Cody Rhodes, son of Dusty, is the future - and past - of professional wrestling. I, a 38-year old man, do not understand watching professional wrestling. I don't begrudge the people who do. But I might tune in to see the son of the American Dream do some things.

*Patrick Hruby: How to pay college athletes. (Ed. Note: Pay the college athletes.)

*Eric B & Rakim are reuniting. April 24. Houston. House of Blues.

Tuesday Morning Hot Links

Fourteen years ago today I married the woman of my dreams. The Astros lost to the Cubs, 5-3. But 14 years ago tomorrow she took an epic nap and I sat in our hotel room and watched the Astros beat the Cubs 3-1! I have her to thank for the support that allows me to post on this dumb web site so much. She means everything to me and I love her with all my heart. 

*Don't get too cocky, Astros fans. Where the Phillies are right now is where the Astros were in 2011. Maybe 2012. Have some respect, show some class. Act like you've been there before, because we have. And Phillies fans have, too. Astros win 13-4 and improve their record to 66-33. They are 36-12 on the road. And now they are 8-0 against the National League. The Mariners won, so the Astros are still 17 games up with 63 games to play.

*The Astros have scored 594 runs in 99 games, which puts them precisely at 6.0 runs/game. They will need to average 6.44 runs per game over their last 63 games to reach 1000 runs for the season. Doable?

*Phillies manager Pete Mackanin:
This is as good a team as we've seen. They go up there to do damage. They look like they're ready to hit every pitch. They're not taking pitches to get a look at the pitcher. If you make a mistake out over the plate, they're going to hurt you.

Now read that again, but imagine Mackanin is running his fingers through his hair, wide-eyed, with a cigarette dangling from his lips.

*Former Astros Great Vince Velasquez:
They hammer mistakes. McCann hit that fastball over the middle. I can't leave it over the middle like that. It cut right over the middle, right into his barrel. Bregman is just a great, great hitter. Just what he's done, coming up in the league, he's been phenomenal. 

When @astros fans are in your mentions telling you to get a roof... pic.twitter.com/Uz9dpSbOER

— Phillies (@Phillies) July 25, 2017

*George Springer left the game after the third inning with discomfort in his quad after his spike got caught in the dumb Philadelphia ground. Notable that Springer strained his left quad in July 2014 and was shut down for the year. Hinch thinks Springer will avoid the DL, but he'll get today off.

*Related: James Hoyt was optioned back to Fresno (after throwing 2IP, 3H/0ER, 2K:1BB) and Derek Fisher was called up. Fisher grew up in Lebanon, Pennsylvania, which is 100 miles from Citizens Bank Park. Hopefully he gets a start tonight or tomorrow.

*Dallas Keuchel will throw a bullpen session today and start either Friday or Saturday at Detroit. Will Harris will go on a rehab assignment tomorrow. Within that link we find that Colin Moran has been released from the hospital and will drive back to Houston for surgery since he has not been cleared to fly.

*Jose Altuve collected four hits for the 2nd game in a row, going 4x4 with a walk. He's hitting .507/.554/.760 in the month of July, pushing his OPS to 1.005. As David Schoenfield notes, the only 2Bs since 1950 to have a season OPS over 1.000 are Joe Morgan (1976) and Jeff Kent (2000). I mean, I'm sure Aaron Judge is going to win the AL MVP award because Yankees, but we are watching something ridiculously special with Altuve, just like I said after Sunday's game. Altuve's SLG, by month:
April: .472
May: .530
June: .576
July: .760

Altuve's .433 road avg is the highest since. baseball. integrated. Hinch:
This guy continues to be amazing. I don't know how else to describe him. It's line to line, it's home runs, it's multiple hits, it's walks when he needs it. He's every bit the MVP candidate that he looks like, and he ignites us on so many levels on this team.

To do some ridiculous math, let's assume Altuve ends the season with 639 ABs (his average for the past two seasons). In order for him to hit .400 for the season (again, ridiculous) he would need to reach 256 hits for the year. Altuve is at 138 hits now in 378 ABs, meaning he would need 118 hits in his next 261 ABs - or he would need to finish the year hitting .452. Ted Williams was a beast.

*Alex Bregman became the 10th Astros with 10+ HR. Once Reddick hits his next homer, the Astros will have 11 players with 10+ home runs.

*Brad Peacock told Jake Kaplan that he feels as good right now as has since he debuted in 2011, and the slider he learned from Jordan Jankowski has been key for him.

*Washington Post: Luhnow is looking to make his team October-ready. Ken Giles, on possible additions to the team:
If the front office feels like they'd be more comfortable adding someone else - the more, the merrier. We're open arms. There's never any hard feelings over asking for more help.

*With the Astros playing the rebuilding Phillies, it lead to several pieces in the Philly media comparing them to the Astros. Some were optimistic. Some were not.

*Ken Giles says he put too much pressure on himself to perform early in his Astros career:
I wanted to show these guys I was ready to win for them. Going from a losing team to a winning team is different. You know what you're worth. You know what you bring to the table. If you don't bring that stuff to the table you get frustrated with yourself. That's how it was.

*The Allentown Morning Call revisited the Giles trade from the Phillies side.

*The Rangers are ready to move Yu Darvish, "for the right price." If the Astros don't, the Dodgers will.

*Bob Nightengale asks if the Astros will move their prospects:
Think they'll be wildly celebrating a 110-victory season if they're sitting home early in October, still looking for their first championship in franchise history?

*MLB.com released their Midseason Top 100 Prospects list, and the Astros put five on there and - according to their point system - have the 5th-best farm system in baseball. Here are the five, with their rankings:
Kyle Tucker: #10
Forrest Whitley: #40
Franklin Perez: #46
Derek Fisher: #54
J.B. Bukauskas: #87

Just for comparison sake, here are the number of Top 100 prospects in other AL West teams:
A's: 3
Rangers: 1
Mariners: 1
Angels: 0

*Check out the Phillies fan double-fisting:

This guy's all right. pic.twitter.com/INMT2XdVPE

— Seth Payne (@PayneNFL) July 25, 2017

Saturday Morning Hot Links

*James Hoyt and Chris Devenski made that game way more interesting than it needed to be, turning an 8-2 lead in the 9th into a situation where the Astros had to use three relievers to get the final three outs in an 8-7 win over the Orioles. The Astros are 64-32 with a 34-11 road record. They have a 17-game lead with 66 games remaining. 51 of those games are against teams currently below .500. 31 of those games are against AL West teams, against whom the Astros are a combined 31-14.

*Fun part first: Yuli Gurriel had his first career four-hit game including a double and a home run. Hinch:
When he gets going and gets pitches to hit, he does a great job of using the whole field. He's truly a really, really good professional hitter. And the more comfortable he gets and the more he sees the league, the better he's getting.

As of the end of last night's game, Gurriel is the 5th player in the Astros starting lineup to hit .300. (Not counting Colin Moran's .500 average).

*Springer had three hits while Marwin and Colin Moran had two. Everybody in the lineup had at least one hit.

*And speaking of Colin Moran, he came into last night with one career extra-base hit from his previous stint in the Majors. Then he got a triple and a two-run home run. Moran, the nephew of Former Orioles Great B.J. Surhoff, was predictably excited:
I came to this ballpark a lot as a kid, so it's definitely pretty special to play here in the big leagues. 

*Mike Fiers was legit, yet again, throwing 7IP, 6H/1ER, 9K:1BB. McTaggart notes that in his last ten starts, Fiers is 6-2 with a 2.36 ERA, 69K in 61IP. Hinch:
I've said it time and time again, in a time where our rotation was pieced together, he was a stable part of it.

*Fiers hit 93mph last night.

*But dear God the 9th inning was so stupid. With an 8-2 lead (Feliz allowed one run in the 8th), Hinch summoned James Hoyt to get the final three outs. Plot twist: he didn't. Hinch:
It was a mess of an inning from the beginning. They obviously put some good at-bats together. It can happen fast in this park. All's well that ends well with a win - albeit a stressful one in the end.

Hoyt retired the first batter he faced and then, whaddayaknow, allowed a walk, double, double, single to make it 8-4 with runners on the corners. Chris Devenski came in to try to get the last two outs, and he gave up a 3-run home run to make it 8-7 with Chris Davis up. Davis, who hit his 258th career home run on Thursday night against Arlington, bunted to the pitcher for an out. Kenneth then struck out Trumbo to end the game.

*As of right now the only time to throw James Hoyt is when you have a 6-run lead and three outs to get the win. But if he isn't reliable even then, what do you do? I'll give him credit for five straight appearances (July 2-15) when he didn't allow a run, but last night was the second straight outing in which he's allowed an earned run. In 15 road appearances, Hoyt has thrown 16.2IP, 18H/13ER, 27K:5BB. He has good stuff, doesn't walk many batters, he just can't miss bats. Which is an insane thing to type out given that he has 55 strikeouts in 35.1IP overall. Irritating.

*Righties vs Hoyt, 2017: .252/.282/.413
Lefties vs. Hoyt, 2017: .294/.360/.544

Yet 47.6% (68 of 143) of ABs batters have taken (ABs not PAs because it's 8:10am and Baseball-Reference hasn't updated yet) against Hoyt have been lefties.

*And yet it was Reymin Guduan who was sent back Fresno to make room for Collin McHugh. Jake Kaplan notes that Baltimore's righty-heavy lineup was likely the reason that it was Guduan and not Hoyt.

*In a geographically-convenient move (that barely seems fair) Dallas Keuchel will make what everyone hopes will be his final rehab start at Tri-City tonight.

*Yesterday I decided that the Astros can afford Justin Verlander, if they want him. Please, I'm begging you, note that the post was not *should* the Astros go get Verlander. The Tigers are "not remotely close" to a deal with any team.

*Crooked-ass Padres GM A.J. Preller wants the world for lefty reliever Brad Hand:
An anonymous executive joked to Yahoo! Sports' Jeff Passan, "I don't think the Dodgers would ask more for Kershaw than A.J. is for Brad Hand.

*Yu Darvish can block a trade to the Cubs, Indians, Pirates, Red Sox, and Rockies.

*It's not infuriating at all that - out of nowhere - I can't go to Cooperstown next week. Bagwell has been watching a lot of Astros games this season.

*Baseball America posted their Top 10 Astros Midseason Prospects:
1. Kyle Tucker
2. Franklin Perez
3. Francis Martes
4. Derek Fisher
5. Forrest Whitley
6. Yordan Alvarez
7. J.B. Bukauskas
8. Teoscar Hernandez
9. J.D. Davis
10. Garrett Stubbs

Notable that Bukauskas has yet to make his pro debut.

*For schadenfreude, check the Rangers' write-up:
A thinned-out farm system has seen several players struggle, with more spare parts than impact talent or projected everyday regulars in the organization.

*Forrest Whitley threw 3.2IP, 3H/2ER, 7K:2BB last night for Buies Creek. Stephen Wrenn was 3x5 with a home run and 2RBI. BCA is 19-9 in the second half with a 5.5-game lead on Winston-Salem.

*Cumulatively the Astros' domestic minor-league teams are 258-212 (.549). Minor-League Standings Check:
Fresno: 57-42, tied for 1st in the Pacific Northern division
Corpus: (49-49 overall) 15-13 in the second half, two games behind San Antonio
BCA: (56-42 overall) 19-9 in the second half, 5.5-game lead
Quad Cities: (56-40 overall) 19-9 in the second half, 3.0-game lead
Tri-City: 12-18, 5.0 back
Greeneville: 16-12, 1.5 back
GCL Astros: 12-9, 1.0 back

*There's a Kickstarter to save Mission Control.

*ESPN's Sunday Night Baseball lineup:
July 23: Cardinals at Cubs
July 30: Giants at Dodgers
August 6: Dodgers at Mets
August 13: Red Sox at Yankees
August 20: Cardinals at Pirates

The August 27 Sunday Night Baseball matchup hasn't been picked up, but the Astros @ Angels game time is the only one listed as TBD.

*If you've been reading all the way to the bottom of the Hot Links for the past, I don't know, two or three years, you've seen a lot of links to Vice Sports articles. Vice.com, in a continued effort to produce video content that everyone in the world hates in order to speed up the downfall of any semblance of a literate society, closed it down. Vice.com can go to hell. Websites, ranked by awfulness:
3. Websites that auto-play videos
2. Websites that auto-play multiple videos at the same time
1. Websites that move your browser window down so that you have no choice but to (a) throw your computer against the wall or (b) close the tab as quickly as possible and never go back to that website ever again.

Tuesday Morning Hot Links

*Best wishes for a happy Independence Day to you. May your burgers be medium-rare, may your fingers remain firmly on your hand, and may your families stay away from talking politics.

*The Astros are 5-0 against the NL so far this season as they open up a two-game series with Atlanta tonight. After these two games, there are four in Toronto before the All-Star Break.

*Brian McCann, who played in Atlanta from 2005-2013, is excited to go back.

*AL West Update: North Cleburne lost to the Red Sox, Anaheim lost to Minnesota, the A's lost to the White Sox, the Mariners lost to the Royals. What a division! The Astros have a 15-game lead. On July 4.

*James Hoyt is tipping his pitches and Hinch is trying to manage the bullpen as their workload increases (in the last 14 games, the starter has only pitched through six innings once). Good quote from Hunter Atkins on what Giles told Hoyt:
They know you belong in the big leagues. Now it's time to show you can make the adjustments. You need to get yourself out of this hole. 

Hinch:
I'm juggling them the best I can to keep them out of the fatigue area, but it's a lot of innings. 

*This ESPN roundtable asks for the number of Astros wins at the end of the season. What you discover will surprise you!

*The Astros announced the signings of 26 international free agents yesterday. Due to the restrictions placed on the organization as a result of last year's spending, only one of those signings was a BA Top 50 prospect - Heitor Tokar, a 6'7" 250lb RHP. They're under the same $300,000 bonus cap through 2019.

*Rogelio Armenteros threw 6IP, 2H/0ER, 8K:3BB in his Triple-A debut, leading Fresno to their 11th straight win.

*In his debut for High-A Buies Creek, Forrest Whitley threw 5IP, 0H/0ER, 9K:1BB. The nine strikeouts are a career-high. In his last five starts Whitley has thrown 22.2IP, 12H/1ER, 37K:11BB. Whitley threw his 70th professional inning last night, and has 102 strikeouts to go with a 3.21 ERA/1.27 WHIP.

*Teoscar Hernandez wrote an essay to help Latino baseball players adjust to the US.

*Five years ago today, Carlos Lee was traded to Miami. Relive that exciting day by checking the to-the-minute update post.

*Jenny Dial Creech: How would you rank (a) Rick Smith, (b) Daryl Morey, and (c) Jeff Luhnow?

*FanGraphs: Is the 2B Revolution already over? (Not for Altuve).

*Travis Sawchik: Jonathan Lucroy's mysterious decline

*Former Astros Great Anthony Gose might ride his 100mph fastball to the majors.

*The Tigers are stupid:

Teams asking about Justin Verlander; perception is DET looking for big,big,big return w/out salary offset. Owed $70m for rest of '17,'18.'19

— Buster Olney (@Buster_ESPN) July 4, 2017

*Umpire Angel Hernandez sued MLB for a violation of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. Hernandez claimed:
...the league routinely fails to promote minorities and that Chief Baseball Officer Joe Torre has held a personal gripe against him from his days as the Yankees' manager. 

Monday Morning Hot Links

*The Yankees wore out Mike Fiers, the bullpen threw another 5IP, and the Astros' offense popped off on All-Star Announcement Day with an 8-1 win over the Yankees. The Astros finish the season 5-2 against New York.

*Brian McTaggart notes that Fiers became the first pitcher since 1913 (and probably ever) to throw 100+ pitches in 4IP without allowing a run. Fiers' pitch count, by inning:
1st: 22 (Double, 2K:1BB)
2nd: 37 (2K:2BB)
3rd: 30 (Single, 2K:1BB)
4th: 20

*Carlos Correa had his first career 4-hit game. After getting off to a rough start in April, Correa is hitting .Wow/.Yay/.Great! since. He has a 12-game hitting streak and a 20-game on-base streak.

*Yuli Gurriel finished (wink) a triple shy of the cycle for his second consecutive 3-hit game. Hinch:
When he's swinging the bat like he has recently it's pretty scary to have that good a hitter that low in the order. He's dangerous, and when he gets hot as we can see he can put some really good swings on balls. 

After bottoming out with a .256 average on May 27, Gurriel is hitting .339/.345/.609 since, with 11 multi-hit games.

*Gurriel's homer made him the 8th Astro with 10+ home runs. The 2012 Astros had three players with 10+ homers for the entire season.

*In his first game back since May 21, Ashur Tolliver faced three batters in the top of the 9th and allowed a walk, two hits, and the Yankees' lone run.

*James Hoyt danced in and out of trouble in the 8th, allowing two hits but getting out unscathed. In his 25 outings in the 2017 season, he has had just two appearances in which zero baserunners reached. The last time he retired every batter he faced was June 3, vs Gun Barrel City. Hoyt has allowed at least one earned run in eight of his last 12 appearances (but just one in his last three!)

*Aaron Judge vs. Houston this series: 1x9, 4K:2BB.

*The Rapid Reaction from NJ.com wasn't pretty:
Try looking for a bright spot. You'll squint so hard your eyes will shut. 

*The Astros will have five All-Star representatives next Tuesday night for the first time since 1994: Jose Altuve, Carlos Correa, George Springer, Dallas Keuchel, and Lance McCullers. It's the first time the Astros have ever had three starters on an All-Star team. This is Altuve's third straight start for the American League, putting him one shy of Craig Biggio's franchise record from 1995-1998. Keuchel:
Honestly, we should have more. We're the best team in the American League, and if you look at the last couple of years, the best teams always represented with the most players. You see it in football, you see it in basketball. I think some of the guys have been snubbed. 

*Springer is the first Astro OF to get a fan vote starting spot since Cesar Cedeno in 1973.

*With two games in Atlanta and no DH starting tomorrow, the Astros are going to lose a reliever and add a bat.

*After 83 games the Astros have a 14.5-game lead. There are 79 games remaining. Here's the breakdown of opponents (italics indicate teams currently above .500)
vs. Anaheim: 9
vs. Arlington: 9
vs. Toronto: 7
vs. Oakland: 7
vs. Seattle: 6
vs. Chicago White Sox: 6
vs. Boston: 4
vs. Tampa Bay: 4
vs. Arizona: 4
vs. Seattle: 3
vs. Minnesota: 3
vs. Baltimore: 3
vs. Philadelphia: 3
vs. New York Mets: 3
vs. Detroit: 3
vs. Washington: 3
vs. Atlanta: 2

So yeah, there are 18 games on the calendar in which the Astros play a team that is - currently - above .500. Okay.

*Off-Day Playoff Odds Report:
FanGraphs (102-60): 99.9% to win the division, 100% to make the playoffs.
Baseball Prospectus (101-61): 99.9% to win the division, 100% to make the playoffs.
FiveThirtyEight (104-58): 98% to win the division, 100% to make the playoffs.

In order to win 104 games the Astros would need to go 48-31 down the stretch. If they play the remaining 79 games at their current Win% they would go 109-53. And the rotation is a wreck right now.

*Charlie Morton threw 4.1IP for Corpus yesterday, allowing 1H/2R (0ER), 5K:2BB. He threw 50 of his 74 pitches for strikes and is on track to rejoin the rotation this weekend in Toronto.

*Hinch, on David Paulino's suspension:
When a guy makes a decision to do something like that and the league's drug program steps up, I don't know if it's a reality check or a slap in the face to an entire team that things aren't the same every day. It's an adjustment when one of your guys is impacted. Similar to a family, react accordingly. 

*Houston Press's John Royal: This is the best Astros team of all-time.

*ESPN's Andrew Marchand says the Yankees are no Astros.

*Carlos Correa won't participate in the Home Run Derby, despite an invitation.

*The Rangers lost a game to the White Sox in which Chicago got five hits and committed four errors.

*Fresno is riding a 10-game win streak and have made up five games on division-leading Reno.

*2016 1st Round pick Forrest Whitley got promoted to High-A Buies Creek. In 12 appearances for Quad Cities Whitley threw 46.1IP, 42H/15ER, 67K:21BB.

*Framber Valdez is headed to Corpus. In 61.1IP for Buies Creek, he allowed 41H/19ER, 73K:29BB

*And Corpus pitcher Rogelio Armenteros was promoted to Fresno. In 65.1IP for Corpus, Armenteros allowed 49H/14ER, 74K:19BB. Decent chance we see Armenteros in Houston come September.

*Kyle Tucker is Buies Creek's team leader in 2B, HR, and RBI and hasn't played there since May 29.

*The Astros can spend $4.75m this international signing period but, because they went nuts last year, can't sign anyone for more than $300,000.

Wednesday Morning Hot Links

*Another solid Mike Fiers start was blown by another poor James Hoyt outing, who gave up a grand slam and cleared the way for a 6-4 Oakland win. Springer started a comeback effort with a three-run home run in the 9th inning, but the Astros couldn't crawl back in this one.

*Fiers:
I felt pretty good. They battled me again and put me in a lot of tough situations, a lot of jams, and cashed in in the sixth. 

Hoyt:
I let the team down. They put me out there in a big time in the game and I just didn't do my job.

The 6th inning was the door-buster. Fiers allowed 4H/4ER, 7K:1BB in 5.2IP, but three of those earned runs came thanks to Hoyt's grand slam to Ryon Healy. In June, Hoyt has pitched 12.1IP, 14H/12ER, 19K:3BB and has allowed at least one earned run in eight of his last ten appearances.

To be fair, Healy thought he had struck out one pitch before, actually dropping his bat in frustration at watching strike three (which would have ended the inning).

*The Astros had plenty of chances, getting 14 hits (11 singles). Jose Altuve and Jake Marisnick had three hits each; George Springer and Alex Bregman had two each. The Astros were 1x10 w/RISP and left ten men on base. Hinch:
It seemed to be (that) every inning we were on the cusp of breaking through against Manaea, and we couldn't quite pull it off.

Take, for instance, the 9th inning. After Springer's three-run shot, Altuve and Correa singled to put the go-ahead run at the plate. Josh Reddick popped up and Brian McCann GIDP'd to end the game. Gattis and McCann combined for a 1x9, 2 GIDP night.

Hinch:
The first six innings are really the story of the opportunities. I think we left...nine or ten guys on base in those innings alone. We did a great job of getting guys on base, getting guys in scoring position and having them in two-out at-bats. We couldn't really win any of those at-bats. 

*Watch Springer's ridiculous diving catch. At 23 home runs, Springer needs one more to tie the Astros' record for HR by the All-Star Break, set by Lance Berkman.

*Richard Justice wrote nice things about Jose Altuve. Altuve:
I don't think it's that hard to have one good season - just one. To come back every year and be consistent, it's tough. That's the player I want to be. 

*Will Harris: Still important!

*Friend of AC Daren Willman posted a fantastic visual of the fastest (and slowest) players on the Astros. Note that Brian McCann is the slowest on the team, and the 2nd-slowest player in baseball.

*No, Jose Quintana's slow start to the season won't lower his price.

*Charlie Morton made his second rehab start last night for Fresno and threw 4IP, 2H/0ER, 2K:1BB in a 6-3 Fresno win.

*Collin McHugh will make his first rehab start on Friday for Corpus.

*J.D. Davis and Drew Ferguson had two hits each in the South's win over the North in the Texas League All-Star Game. Garrett Stubbs added a hit. Rogelio Armenteros allowed 3H/2ER with 2K in 1IP.

*Here's an excellent piece from MiLB.com about Quad Cities' Yordan Alvarez who was acquired for, get this, Josh Fields.

*Astros 2nd-Round pick Joe Perez signed for $1.6m and this Sun-Sentinel article says 1st-Round pick J.B. Bukauskas has a deal for about $3.5m.

*2nd-Round pick Corbin Martin will sign his contract with the Astros today.

*Here's a great profile of underrated free agent Sean Johnson, free agent no longer.

*Sad news as former UH player/Astros pitcher Anthony Young died at the age of 51.

*Idiot-ass NBC just killed soccer in America.

One time for DJ Screw. #June27th pic.twitter.com/fHdHowQIal

— #VoteAstros (@astros) June 28, 2017

Friday Morning Hot Links

Update from yesterday: Our A/C did not, in fact, heal itself and it went out. It's 80 degrees in my house at 5:58am. Hottest day of the year and the tech can't get here until 4pm. Looking forward to sweating off about 10 pounds today. 

*The Astros had to sweat out what once was a 10-run lead thanks to some shaky pitching from guys who should probably only be pitching in a 9-run game. Or in Fresno. Astros win, 12-9. The offense was unstoppable in the 2nd inning, scoring eight runs - including two 3-run homers from Marisnick (who entered the game after Springer went down) and Marwin. Nori Aoki was 3x5 with two doubles.

*David Paulino pitched a pretty okay game (which is good enough for this offense), throwing 5.1IP, 7H/3ER, 6K:2BB. He struck out five of the first six batters he faced, but efficiency was his downfall, getting pulled after 107 pitches.

*Dayan Diaz gets the Goat of the Game after allowing the A's to get right back in it, throwing 35 pitches to get one out and allowing three hits, two walks, and five runs total (thanks in part to Michael Feliz). Oakland's 8th inning went as such: Double, Strikeout, Walk, Double, Double, Wild Pitch, Walk. Michael Feliz "took over" and this happened: Double, Wild Pitch, RBI groundout, Strikeout.

*Josh Reddick was a (wink) single short of the cycle, going 3x4 with a double, triple, home run, and a walk. Reddick:
You always want to do well against your former team. I enjoy beating them regardless. Whether I go 0x4 or I go 4x4. So, it is fun. 

*The Outlaw Jesse Hahn got everyone all nervous, hitting George Springer on the left hand and knocking him out of the game. Hahn then proceeded to throw 2IP, 6H/10 R (9ER), 0K:3BB and thinks hitting Springer (X-Rays negative, day-to-day) threw him off:
Yeah I think maybe that affected me. For me, my game is coming inside on righties, throwing my sinker in on righties and I kind of babied it in there after that. I started spiking a lot, yanking stuff, and it just wasn't good.

*Hahn told Susan Slusser that:
I'm not going to say it rattled me but I felt bad and sent best wishes to him.

LET'S SEE THOSE BEST WISHES, HAHN.

*X-Rays were negative and Springer has already lobbied Hinch to put him in the lineup when the Astros play the Mariners tonight.

*Marisnick's 10th home run of the season set a career-high. Marisnick:
It feels good doing all that work and then get the results. I'm excited about it, excited to kind of keep working on it and keep going.

*The Astros have now won ten straight at Oakland, and 15 of their last 16 overall against the A's.

*They're 50-24 (reminder that the 2013 Astros were 51-111 for the season) with a 27-8 record on the road (those 2013 Astros were 27-53 on the road and the 2012 Astros went 20-61 on the road. Those were bad times.) The Cubs led MLB in 2016 with a 57-24 record. The 2015 Astros were 33-48 on the road. But the best Astros road record since 1998* came when the 2001 Astros went 49-32 on the road.

*I have other things to do today, so I stopped at 1998. 

*Only three teams since 2000 have reached 50 wins in 74 games or less: the 2001 Mariners, the 2005 White Sox, and the 2015 Cardinals. Only the White Sox went on to win the World Series (boo! hiss!). Hinch:
We're pretty even-keeled around here. We don't talk a lot about getting to 40 wins, getting to 50 wins. We're going to continue to press forward and try to win as many as we can. 

*Houston is the first team in the Majors to reach 400 runs.

*USA Today: McCann and Gattis are a deadly combination. Also this, from McCann:
Every day I walk out to the bullpen at home I get people screaming, 'Gatti, Gatti, sign!'

*Charlie Morton threw 36 pitches in 2IP, allowing 2H/1ER, 1K:1BB in a rehab start for Fresno. Fresno would go on to lose to Sacramento 9-3.

*Kyle Tucker hit his 5th Double-A home run last night in a 6-5 extra-inning win over Frisco thanks to Jon Singleton's sac fly. Tucker is hitting .255/.300/.511 in 22 games with Corpus. He's 20.

*Jon Heyman out here throwing slugs:
Pedroia was upset at that young Astros pitcher not because he believed he threw at him on purpose but because of sheer incompetence; Pedroia was the second straight batter hit.

That "young Astros pitcher" is presumably 30-year old James Hoyt.

*Eno Sarris notes that the Astros are throwing the fewest four-seam fastballs in the Majors.

*The Chronicle's Hunter Atkins: It's all fun and games in the Astros' clubhouse. This is a fun read.

*A.J. Hinch talked defensive shifts with Buster Olney.

*Baseball Prospectus: Tal's Hill went on vacation and took pictures.

*

The view from the catcher is incredible 😍pic.twitter.com/qysOqmhjfU

— Daily Dingers (@BCNDailyDingers) June 1, 2017

Wednesday Morning Hot Links

Well folks the Astros won again. They're 28-12 - 14-6 both at home and on the road - after beating the piss out of the Marlins last night, 12-2. If the Astros win today (11:10am in the series finale against Miami) they'll be 17 games over .500 for the first time since the end of the 2004 season.

*Matt Young notes that the Astros are the first AL team since the 2007 Boston Red Sox, and the 18th AL team in the last 50 years, to start 28-12.

*Keuchel was pulled after 5IP and 70 pitches thrown, with a 10-2 lead. Keuchel:
I don't like to pitch five innings, but if there's a big lead and I've got a chance to get a win, I'll take that. I'm on pace for a lot of innings, so today was a good chance to save a few bullets.

*Hinch:
I've been looking for a time to get him out of there. We've had him out there so deep into games. We had a comfortable lead, I had a couple of guys that were really ready to pitch.

*Jake Marisnick had his first 2HR game and Marlins Park becomes the stadium with his 2nd-highest career HR total, with three (one as a Marlin, two last night). His first career home run came on July 31, 2013 as a Marlin, against the Mets. Marisnick:
I hadn't been feeling great, so to go out there and slow things down, get a good pitch to hit, put a good swing on it, it felt good. 

*Lance McCullers will get the start today as the Astros look to get their first three-game sweep of the season. McCullers was good friends with late Marlins ace Jose Fernandez:
It was always our goal, always our dream to make it. So it's a little bit surreal being here and him not being here. I don't know what it'll be like when I pitch. But I have to do my job at the same time. 

*Charlie Morton is trying to figure out what's going wrong as he gets deep into games. Jake Kaplan notes that 14 of the 20 runs Morton has allowed have come against hitters seeing him for the 3rd time in the game. Morton:
It's like you go from one extreme to the other. It's frustrating. 

*James Hoyt has struck out 18 of the 32 batters he has faced this season. Hoyt:
Last year in the taste of big league action I had I still had more strikeouts than innings pitched (28K, 22IP), so there was a sign there. I just knew I could do better. 

*The Astros released Fresno's Keegan Yuhl and Corpus' Michael Freeman. Yuhl was the Astros' 35th Round pick in the 2014 draft, but had allowed 38H/34ER, with 13K:15BB in 19.2IP. Freeman is a little more surprising - he was the Astros' 7th Round pick in 2015 - and in 20IP had allowed 21H/7ER, with 14K:16BB for Corpus.

*The Astros are #1 in MLB.com's Power Rankings

*ESPN: Astros have a chance at the best double-play combo ever

*Men's Fitness: How Carlos Correa became baseball's fittest shortstop

*Ken Rosenthal, who shed many a tear and fretted oh-so-many times over the Astros' rebuilding, now says the Marlins need to do the same thing.

*Jeff Sullivan: It's kind of amazing the Rangers are where they are.

Thursday Morning Hot Links

These links are late thanks to the wonders of Motrin PM.

*The Astros are 10-5, reaching their 10th win in their (stay with me) 15th game. Previous seasons, to ten wins:
2017: Game 15
2016: Game 28
2015: Game 17
2014: Game 29
2013: Game 34
2012: Game 24
2011: Game 27
2010: Game 31

*The Astros won again behind a Dallas Keuchel home start. Since the beginning of 2015 Keuchel - at home (33 starts) - is 21-5 with a 2.15 ERA/0.96 WHIP and has allowed a .205/.250/.290 slash line.

*Keuchel found his grounders again, getting DPs in three innings last night.

*ESPN: Keuchel could be back to Cy Young form.

*Josh Reddick was a (wink) single short of the cycle. The last time he had a triple and a homer in the same game? June 16, 2013 against Seattle.

*Ken Giles was used to face the heart of the Angels lineup in the 8th (rendered somewhat moot by Reddick's 1st homer as an Astro). Giles, who retired Escobar, Trout, and Pujols on eight pitches:
I mean, the whole point was to get the top three guys in that order out. Those are the important outs of this game. That's pretty much where all their hits were coming from. 

*George Springer played in his 202nd consecutive game, matching Jose Altuve's consecutive games streak. A start tonight means, of course, that he passes it.

It's also worth noting in that link that David Paulino (elbow bone bruise) has progressed to throwing off a mound in extended spring training.

*Lance McCullers goes for the Astros today in an effort to bounce back from a rough start on Saturday.

*Correa hopes to be in the lineup today, having missed three games after getting hit on the hand by Frankie "The Bastard" Montas. UPDATE: He back.

*Switching Reddick and Bregman in the lineup seems to be working.

*James Hoyt has been called up from Fresno with Jandel Gustave going on the DL with forearm tightness. "Forearm tightness" is code for "See you in 2018."

*I like the Woo.

*Bill McCurdy has a list of the surviving members of the Colt .45s.

Friday Morning Hot Links

*Lance McCullers got knocked around in the 2nd and 3rd innings of his 4IP start last night, which the Astros won 8-6, but is just happy to start the season healthy. Josh Reddick hit a homer off a lefty.

*Jandel (pronounced Yahn-dle, as I found out last night) Gustave got the 25th spot on the roster and will be the 8th man out of the bullpen. All along Hinch said that last night's game wouldn't determine who made it and who went to Fresno, but the power of Gustave's pitches, and Hoyt's trouble getting the lefties he faced out (Anthony Rizzo hit a ball to Sealy), seemed to seal Hinch's decision.

*Catcher Garrett Stubbs ran 85 feet to catch the pop-up that ended last night's game, the longest distance run by a catcher for an out in the Statcast Era.

*The Astros will not be allowed to practice on Saturday, so it'll be over 72 hours from the end of today's 1:10pm exhibition against the Cubs to the Astros' opener on Monday night.

*The Crawfish Boxes has a fun post (which I can now delete from my drafts, as I was planning on doing the same thing...at some point) asking whether the 2017 Fresno Grizzlies could beat the 2013 Houston Astros.

*The Chronicle's Hunter Atkins has a good profile on Derek Fisher.

*Tyler Kepner: The Astros have never won a World Series game. That may change.

*The Astros signed 19-year old Costa Rican pitcher Bryan Solano yesterday, who was playing in Nicaragua's MLB development league.

*If you want something at which to get pissed off, here's Scott Miller's article in the Bleacher Report about Indians Great Brady Aiken, with plenty of shots fired at the Astros.

*Max Stassi's brother, 2011 33rd Round pick Brock Stassi, made the Phillies' Opening Day roster.

*How Dodgers GM Farhan Zardi's pursuit of happiness merged with the Dodgers' pursuit of a title.

*Jon Heyman says the Cardinals could be surprise candidates to trade for Jose Quintana.

*Jon Heyman also ranked the Astros 12th in his pre-season power rankings. Key quote:
Sports Illustrated predicted a World Series win in 2017, and they are almost never right. 

Solid logic, Jon.

*All seven of USA Today's baseball writers have the Astros making the postseason, not the ALCS.

*21 of 35 ESPN people have the Astros winning the AL West (eight picked the Ramgers, six picked the Mariners). Eight picked the Astros to win the AL Pennant. Five picked the Astros to win the World Series.

Monday Morning Hot Links

I was wide awake at 3am so let's just get today over with, huh?

*Joe Musgrove will be SP4 to start the season, and the rotation will be Keuchel, McCullers, Morton, Musgrove, and Fiers.

*Which of course means that Collin McHugh and his dead arm will start the season on the DL. He'll make his Spring Training debut today, about three weeks too late.

*And now the only question is who will be the final arm out of the bullpen: James Hoyt or Jandel Gustave? Hinch:
It's miserable being this guy. Hoyt's been this guy for the last couple of years; Gustave is the first time being this close to the team, (Dayan) Diaz as well. I don't want them to put so much pressure on themselves in the last outing or two they're going to have.

Hinch is looking to see if they can get lefties out to help Sipp in times of trouble. The bullpen, as of now, is Giles, Gregerson, Harris, Feliz, Devenski, Sipp, and probably Brad Peacock to serve as a multiple-inning guy (read: Out-of-Options guy).

*And Tony Sipp was scratched from both weekend games due to a back issue.

*Josh Reddick wants to hit more lefty pitching.

*Nick Cafardo is the latest to write that the Astros are still in on Jose Quintana, though they're reluctant to part with Francis Martes in that deal. "One major league source" says that the White Sox could trade Quintana before Opening Day, which is in a week, of course.

*The Astros are impressed with Derek Fisher's base-stealing ability.

*New Astros play-by-play man Todd Kalas honored his Hall of Fame father with his home run call.

*The Astros traded catcher Tyler Heineman to, who else, the Brewers for "a player to be named later or cash considerations." How funny would it be if there was a player whose actual last name was Later. Or if their name was Cash Considerations. That'd be messed up. I'm very tired.

Heineman - the Astros' 8th Round pick out of UCLA in the 2012 draft - will be 26 in June. In 2015, between Corpus and Fresno, Heineman hit .285/.334/.379, good enough to spend all of 2016 in Fresno, where he hit .359/.344/.351. What with the emergence of Garrett Stubbs as a prospect, and with Juan Centeno's arrival, and Stassi's return to Fresno, there likely just wasn't playing time available for Heineman. Fare thee well, Tyler Heineman.

*The Astros released LHP C.J. Riefenhauser yesterday, and reassigned Jordan Jankowski, Tyson Perez, Alejandro Garcia, and Jon Kemmer to minor-league camp.

*Anthony Gose - who was an Astro for about eight minutes before getting traded to Toronto for Astros Great Brett Wallace - is about to be converted into a pitcher.